Victory Point Cafe
| Address: | 1797 Shattuck Ave a, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA |
| Phone: | +1 510-982-6325 |
| Site: | victorypointcafe.com |
| Rating: | 4.8 |
| Working: | 9AM–11PM 9AM–11PM 9AM–11PM 9AM–11PM 9AM–12AM 10AM–12AM 10AM–11PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 11
JK
JKay GreenStarsProject
A fun and surprisingly chilled out place (4/5 green stars) I was a little hesitant to come here to be honest. I imagined us spending the afternoon being chastised by uptight staff members for breaking rules that we didn’t know about. Or being looked down on by our over-achieving neighbors for our lack of prowess in playing board games. Neither of these fears was realized. We stayed up staying there for something like 6 hours (!), sustaining ourselves on a wide variety of coffee drinks, beer, pastries, kettle corn, pretzels, and wasabi snack bowls. The $5 per person charge doesn’t seem like such a big deal considering that we had fun discovering so many new games. Favorites were a magnetic tabletop “football” game called Klask, a strategy game called Sheriff of Nottingham that involves a lot of bluffing, and a very simple but hilarious card game called Spot It! I’m also giving them 4/5 “green stars” for social and environmental impact, based on these reasons: • Trying out different board games at VP is a great way of pre-vetting games before purchasing. That way, you can avoid buying a game that you end up only playing twice. (Or never buy and only play at VP!) • I was surprised by the quality of most of the food offered – they’ve generally gone with good suppliers. • For example: Clover milk, Guittard chocolate, and Numi tea. • Good selection of local craft beer and wine (with pretty sustainable choices like Sierra beer and Donati wine). • Their coffee supplier is Artis. When I reviewed Artis a couple of years ago I wasn’t convinced that they had much interest in sustainability. Perhaps they have improved a bit - they do now sell some certified (fair trade, organic) coffee. • Waste minimization: all food and drinks were served in ceramic / glass. • Also, I like that a server came around before closing and offered their remaining pastries for $1 each : ) • I don’t remember details on everything (e.g., snack bowls) – I’ll have to go back for more research! Interested in writing green star reviews? If so, contact me!
KE
keshav p
Awesome place to spend time with your friends. For $5 you get the access to an amazing collection of board games to choose from. The friendly baristas aka game gurus help you choose a game as per your liking or if youre feeling adventurous, they suggest some of their own personal favorites (They are some of the best games Ive played). If you like a game, you might be able to purchase it if they have it in stock. You also get to roll a dice and get a discount on your purchases. You can do all of this while enjoying the fresh pastries, delicious sandwiches, coffee or even beer. If youre not into board games, this still as a good place to hang out and have some coffee. Although, if youre planning to work, I would advice only go in the morning or in the afternoons. It gets really busy in the evenings and weekends, so I would advise you to call them up and reserve a spot before going. Its a great spot, I visit it at least once a week and would recommend it to everyone wanting to have a fun time.
EM
Emma Rudié
Yesss! This is what Berkeley needed. There are a few bars around town with board games, but what if youre not a drinker?? What if you just want a spot to hang with friends and play board games? This is the spot! You pay $5 to get in (less than that cocktail you dont want), and then you can stay and play for as long as you want. You can play as many different games as you want (and believe me, youll want to play a bunch because there are sooooo many to choose from!). And they have a great system for ordering food as you play: theres a little stand-up placard thingy on your table, and if you pin the clothespin on it, it means you want them to bring you something, and if you take the clothespin off, it means "leave us alone, were immersed in our game!"
DA
David Hess
This is the best idea for a cafe!!! Their board and card game selection is beyond impressive. There is a little of something for everyone. They also have someone on staff to help explain rules with games to new comers. Although the social atmosphere is amazing- I cannot give this place all 5 stars. The only thing lacking with this place is their selection of food. The given food is tasty, but I do not think candy and snacks will cut it for everyone. However, that is too be expected for cafes. Besides that vary small-small detail, this place is wonderful.
ER
Eric Gray
This place was dissapointing; were not going back. We didnt like being told where to sit, and then futzing with the tiny table in order to play the game we rented. The snacks are overpriced for the serving size. The game guru ignored our repeated attempts to attract him to our table. Eudemonia might not offer the beverages but the staff there is personable and more interested in ensuring that youre enjoying yourself. VPC seems to only care about micromanaging their clientele for profit.
MA
Matt Ivory
Everything you want from a boardgame cafe! Great selection of board games and good selection of food. The board game gurus are attentive and know the games quite well! Always willing to help making a selection or explain a game. Even when we accidentally spilt beer on a game they were completely understanding and even refilled our beer for free. Absolutely the nicest staff ever. Worth the price (5$ to play) and no rush to ever leave. Cannot recommend this place enough.
PR
Pravin Prakash
Such a cool cafe! You pay 5$ to basically rent table space for as long as you want (until the store closes?), which entitles you to play any of the games they have in their shelves. They have a ton of great board games. They also do this thing where they bring you a 20-sided die, which you roll, add 10 to the number that the die rolls, to get the % you can save off of any board game you wanna buy. My friend rolled a 17, which gave us 27% off the new Captain SONAR game.
JO
Jon Gorchon
Really nice concept! Staff is super friendly and helpful. They have many little details that make it really worth it: small candy bowls, a rolling discount dice, organic original drinks (loved the ice tea)... will come back for sure! Maybe you could offer some kind of monthly/year subscription for playing the games? I would like to come more often but it can quickly become expensive! Specially if you want to pop in just for an 1h...Anyways, great cafe! thanks!
SH
Shannia Fu
Such a great environment! And for a normal person, it contains pretty much any game you can think of (but again, this isnt coming from a total board game aficionado). The entry fee is $5 per person, but you can stay there as long as you want, and they offer drinks (as the name implies). My only grievance is that there isnt always room for everyone who wants to go, and sometimes groups will wait outside for a space to open up.
NI
Nicholas Harris
The previous reviewer said the coffee is not very good, but actually the coffee is great!! They brew Artis, and they do an especially good job with their pour overs. They have a few options for beans, and currently the Peruvian and Ethiopian are amazingly complex and very different in profile. The drip coffee is good too. I would imagine their espresso is also good. Very happy this place is now open.
AL
Albert Wei
Great place to bring friends or to even come solo (They have player solicitor signs you can prop up). Game board selection is great, you could spend a whole week there playing to your hearts content. And at $5 for the whole day, you certainly could! Staff is friendly and knowledgeable about gameplay. Food options are okay but youre there for the games anyway. Get your dice out of my rice crackers!
